


Congratulations

by orphan_account



Series: I Hope You've Learned to be Satisfied [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angelica is a force to be reckoned with don't mess with her unless you want to die, Angst, F/M, Gen, Post-Reynolds Pamphlet, Sequel to Palaces Out of Paragraphs, cursing, lmao I dunno who to make the good/bad guy in this one i'm torn, self-indulgent (no one requested this lmao I'm just sittin' here, writing angst)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 09:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11483751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Alexander is in his study, moping and regretting everything when Angelica stops by and decides to--talkto him





	Congratulations

**Author's Note:**

> Based on prompt #94 from [this post](https://notthrowingawaymyfood.tumblr.com/post/160748611818/prompt-list-3) : “You don’t get to take cheap shots at me because you’re hurting.”

Alexander was at his desk, his face in his hands as he tried to drown out the still-there taunts from his co-workers.

_ Well he’s never gonna be president now!,  _ They muttered to each other gleefully, making it a point to stage-whisper when Washington wasn’t there to give them stern looks.

The gleeful faces of Thomas and James just helped to dig him into a deeper pit of guilt. It was bad enough when he saw Eliza’s hurt and angry face all but kick him out of their bedroom, but to have those two men leer at him?! It was more than what he could handle that week, everything felt like it was buzzing with lightning, ready to kill him if he dared laid a hand on it.

_ At least he was honest with our money! _

It wasn’t fair. He was only trying to save his political image, his honor, when everyone threw it all back in his face. Oh, what was he supposed to do, sit back and let  _ them _ sully his good name? Alexander seethed and resolved that he would rather die than let that happen.

_ You’ve never seen somebody ruin they own life! _

Eliza couldn’t even look at him without that heartbreaking look of hurt on her face. The lock of her jaw whenever she walked past him, the forced distant look in her eyes, all of that  _ wounded _ him. If it were any other person, he’d pull them to the side and ask what the ever-loving hell was their problem, but this was—well— _ Eliza _ .

_ His poor wife _

Sweet, sweet Eliza. She had seen him in the best light possible, one could always see what she was feeling on her face, not because she was naïve, but because she was an honest and open person. Supportive, witty, and always willing to learn and do her best. She made him  _ feel _ what she saw him as, a smart man with a fire in his eyes that couldn’t be matched by any other. The angry resolve in his gut cracked and dissipated into an aching hurt. He had opened up, he had finally felt what it was like to love someone, but he, he messed it up.

“What did I do?” he said mournfully, half surprised at how scratched-up his voice sounded as it rang out through his study. For extra measure, he repeated the inquiry again.  _ ”What did I do?!” _

“You took a beautiful thing and turned it ugly, Alexander,” his ears pricked up at the sudden sound in the room, “you literally invented the epitome of stupid!” A harsh and short laugh rang out before the door closed. He looked up only to see-

“Angelica!” she was situated against the door. It was a welcome sight, really, and he temporarily forgot the biting words she just said. “I thought you were in London?” Snapped out of his reverie and thrust into a new one, he stood up and reached his hand out to shake hers. Only to be fully woken up by the stinging on his cheek, he finally registered in his tired head what she had just said, the hurting feeling back again.

“Angelica?” the realization dawned on him faster than he could write. His hand lowered, he scanned her features. The set of tension in her jaw, the angry look in her eyes, she was  _ livid _ . She stared at him with a restrained intensity in her eyes for a good few seconds before speaking.

“If you seriously think,” the coldness of her voice filled him with a sense of dread until he felt as if he were about to detonate, “that I’m here to help  _ you _ of all people, that  _ I’m _ here for  _ you _ , then you’re even more of a dumbass than I previously thought, Alexander.” He flinched at the insult, his heart recoiling from his ribs as if it were making an attempt to get as far away as possible from her.

“Wasn’t she enough for you?! Wasn’t the most trusting and kind woman in the world enough for you?!” Unable to look at her, he cast his gaze to the floor and silently took the beating. He let Angelica go on until her voice was hoarse, until his ears hurt from when her voice became unbearably shrill. He let her go on and on and on. After all, he deserved it didn’t he? Her words soon became a murky blur of guilt as he just sat there, trying to seem as if he agreed with everything.

“No, you don’t get to wallow in self-guilt and self-deprecation, you look at me, Alexander.” When he refused to meet her irate gaze, her voice gained an almost physically painful edge. “ _ Hamilton _ ! Look. At. Me.”

He looked up and saw angry brown eyes. Her face was nothing like the stony face that Eliza gave him, no, this was Angelica unleashed. He had only seen this side of her when someone dared say something vulgar to her and her sisters.

_ It had been a good thirty minutes now, he reasoned to himself, I’ve had enough of this… _

“Angelica,” he stood up, meeting her gaze and looking down at her slightly for good measure, “before you say anything more, and Lord knows you’ve been talking for who knows how long, it was a necessary act of political sacrifice. Of course, you wouldn’t know, now would you?” a tiny slice of him warned that he’d regret this later, but he brushed it away and added a hard look to add to the subtly sexist comment. Stripped down to his barest intent, he was trying to get under her skin, trying to fight against  _ something _ , seeing as he was undoubtedly both helpless and hopeless at this point.

“ _ Sacrifice?!” _ indignation and disbelief permeated the air as the look she gave him turned into one of borderline disgust. Anger was an ugly thing, it turned kindness into hostility. 

“Nono, I’m not done yet,” he said, starting to pace around as if he were modeling how fast his mind was reeling in slow motion, “I thought that you, of all people, would understand what I’m struggling here to do, but I guess I was mistaken.

“I was about to be accused of  _ treason _ , Angelica. I think that being confessing to extramarital conducts is nothing compared to being arrested, locked up, and ridiculed for stealing money from the government. I thought that you would understand that, I really did. At least Eliza trusted me—”

“No. You- _ you _ don’t get to take cheap shots at me just because  _ you’re _ hurting!” Her voice pierced throughout the space of his study. “Absolutely no one gave you the right to bring up back  _ my _ regrets when you’re in the wrong, Alexander.  _ You’re _ the one who sent letters to Eliza, saying, ‘Oh no, my love,  _ take your time _ , stay with your father upstate, all is well don’t worry,’!  _ You’re _ the one who could’ve said no to that woman,  _ Lord knows _ you’ve said no to your own family plenty of times.

“And you wanna talk about sacrifice to me of all people?! Who was the one who  _ sacrificed _ her love for her little sister? Who was the one who  _ sacrificed _ their hometown and family to go off with some guy in London just because he had money? Because I’m sure as hell it wasn’t you!

“What have you done with your life, Alexander?” she had stopped to catch her breath, the weight of—dammit, she didn’t know what—of  _ everything _ but a damper on her spark.

“I don’t know, what did we both do with our lives, Angie?”

Her resentment crackled the air between them like lightning.

“You promised that you’d be true to her,” Angelica said, her eyes icy.

“I also promised to be faithful to my country.”

“And what the ever-loving  _ hell _ does that have to do with the oath that you have given to your wife? Hm?!” the look on her face showed that she wasn’t afraid to slap him again.

Alexander silently noted that this was one of the only times he was ever speechless and tried to look at her eyes with a steely gaze. For just a moment, her eyes softened as she gazed at him. A man that just didn’t know when to quiet and quit.

_ Yeah, he never knew just when to stop lying and doing exactly what he needed to survive. I guess I was right about him. _ The moment was gone as soon as it came and she barked out another short laugh and rolled her eyes in disbelief, turning for the door.

“You know what?  _ Congratulations _ , Hamilton,” she stopped at the doorframe, “you will  _ never _ find anyone as loving, trusting, or kind as my sister you know that?”

The door slammed.

“Maybe I do…”

She had left, probably to console Eliza, leaving him alone to numbly walk back to his desk and collapse onto the pile of papers, too busy holding back the emotion that was raging within him to care that a stack of it was now strewn across the floor around him, like some sort of papery and crisp radiation. His head was still cloudy from the lack of sleep, so he made himself comfortable upon the organized mess. Letting his eyes slowly drift shut, he sighed hollowly and thought:

_ Maybe… Maybe some wallowing in self-pity is good for now… _

He slowly submerged into a fitful and turbulent session of sleep, not really enjoying what awaited him in the realm of dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! (I love constructive criticism, it's not expected but it's nice to see an occasional tip here and there)


End file.
